[10/29/12 - 12:27 PM]"Hell on Wheels" Fires Up Third Season at AMCBy The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- AMC has ordered a third season of its Western drama "Hell on Wheels."

News of the 10-episode renewal was first reported by Deadline.com. Said story added that co-creators Joe and Tony Gayton are stepping down as executive producers, leaving John Shiban as sole showrunner.

"Wheels" averaged 2.357 million viewers and a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 this past season, down a bit from its freshman run (2.977 million viewers, 1.0 rating in 18-49) when it followed "The Walking Dead."

Only "The Killing" (1.579 million viewers, 0.5 rating in 18-49) - which got the axe back in July - fared worse among AMC's dramas this year.

"Walking Dead" remains the cable channel's most-watched drama (10.210 million viewers, 5.5 rating in 18-49 in its two airings thus far) followed by "Breaking Bad" (2.638 million viewers, 1.3 rating in 18-49) and "Mad Men" (2.611 million viewers, 0.9 rating in 18-49).

Endemol USA, Entertainment One Television and Nomadic Pictures are the co-producers of "Hell on Wheels."